Claims on Madoff Victim Fund Reach $40B

By Brendan Conway

Michael Calia of the Wall Street Journal has the story on the rush of claims for the Justice Department’s fund for victims of Bernie Madoff:

The Justice Department’s fund for victims of Ponzi schemer Bernard L. Madoff on Tuesday said it had received 51,700 claims—worth about $40 billion—more than authorities had expected.

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The Madoff Victim Fund received more than three times as many claims as were filed in the bankruptcy proceedings for Mr. Madoff’s firm, according to Richard C. Breeden, the special master overseeing the fund for the government.

“We have to eliminate ineligible or overstated claims before we can have an accurate picture of the losses,” Mr. Breeden wrote in a release. “Nonetheless, it appears that at least twice as many investors as previously thought lost money in the Madoff fraud, with losses running many billions larger than previously documented.”

The Justice Department’s fund—tasked with returning $4 billion in forfeited assets to claimants—has been able to accept claims from people who were indirectly affected by the fallout from Madoff’s fraud.

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